(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nanoimprint process, and more particularly, to a method for forming a metal oxide thin film pattern on a substrate using ultraviolet irradiation or thermal nanoimprinting, and a manufacturing method of a light emitting diode (LED) device using the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Nanoimprinting is a technology that proposes to realize nanoprocessing (1 to 100 nm) that is microprocessing, and involves transferring a pattern by applying pressure to a mold having a nanosize and that is applied with a photocurable resin or thermoplastic resin and irradiating ultraviolet rays to the mold or heating it to cure.
Using the nanoimprint technology can simplify manufacture of a nanostructure like stamping a seal while overcoming a miniaturization critical point in a photolithography scheme used in the current semiconductor process.
In addition, using the nanoimprint technology improves the current 100-nm class fine process to a 10-nm fine process, thereby promoting a technology of a next-generation semiconductor field. In particular, the nanoimprint technology is considered a technology for forming a circuit for a next-generation semiconductor and flat panel display.
The nanoimprint technology is classified into a thermal imprinting technology that uses an opaque silicon stamp and an UV imprinting technology that uses a scheme of curing a resin by transmitting ultraviolet rays through a transparent quartz stamp (or transparent quartz substrate upon using a silicon stamp), according to a curing scheme.
Among those, in the UV nanoimprint process, a master pattern is first manufactured on a transparent mold substrate through nanolithography equipment such as electron beam, etc. A prepolymer resin that is cured by ultraviolet rays is spin-coated (or dispensed) on the substrate, and then the manufactured master contacts the resin. At this time, the resin is filled in the pattern by a capillary force, thereby performing the pattern transfer. After the filling is completed, ultraviolet rays passing through the transparent substrate cure the polymer and the master mold is then removed. In order to implement smooth filling and a uniform pattern size upon imprinting, the master mold should not directly contact the substrate. At this time, the generated residual thickness is removed by physical etching, thereby making it possible to etch the substrate or lift the metal off through post-processing if necessary.
When forming and patterning the metal oxide thin film on the substrate, the pattern is formed on the ultraviolet resin (resist) with the nanoimprint and the patterned metal oxide thin film is then formed by the etching process, such that the process is complicated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.